Thank goodness for our church family

I'm about to pass out of consciousness, but I wanted to take a moment to note how thankful I am for our church family, at McAllen First Church of the Nazarene. So many nice people have reached out to us with warmness and kindness. I'm still surprised that people I hardly recognize know me by name! People in our church have made our stay here, thus far, more homey than our transition would otherwise be.

I'm sure I'm bound to forget loads of people, but thank you . . .

• Manda & Johnny.
• Rhonda & John.
• Katia & Jeff.
• Pastor Kevin & Pam, and Heather.
• Monte & Diana.
• Dennis & Tracy.
• Leeroy & Rosie.

Oh my goodness, I don't think I can come up with an exhaustive list. I'm thankful for everyone who's made our transition here so much easier by reaching out to us and loving on us.

There are many people that aren't a part of our church, that have made a significant difference in our lives here, but that's another entry, another time.

Thank goodness for Manda and Christine

This past Thursday, April 20 (2006), I had a pregnancy meltdown. Though the day began well, with me stirring after 10 in the morning, my day quickly declined. By around three or so, I was struggling with acid reflux from Hades, my head ached, and I hadn't gotten much dissertation work done. I called my sister and spoke with her for the few minutes she had to spare. I cried telling her how I wish we lived closer to each other.

I ended up calling Manda. Thankfully, she picked up the phone. I hadn't uttered more than a few words, before I started crying. I told her how these pregnancy symptoms sucked big time. Soon enough, I was crying hard enough I couldn't enunciate at all. To make a long story short, Manda asked whether she could come over. She biked a ways in the hot Texas sun over to see me! With her, she brought a tasty green tea iced tea drink for me and two photo albums of pictures. I loved hearing stories behind each of her pictures. During her visit with me, I felt much more comfortable and relaxed. She's a truly amazing friend. Thank you, Manda! Your company was so much appreciated.


Yesterday, April 21, I called Christine, my best friend in Columbia, MO. We did some small talk, in which I shared her my continuing and unrelenting acid reflux. Through the course of our conversation, she suggested that I might be able to allieve some of the heavier acid reflux problems by making sure that I do not let too much time lapse in between times of eating. I don't have to each in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In recent times, I've taken the liberty of sleeping in until ten or so. In the last few weeks, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I've gotten some eight to ten hours of sleep. Christine commented that that's too long to go without eating. That's a great observation! My tummy and the baby probably don't like that one bit. I've been keeping a cup of water by the bed since my pregnancy began. But now, when I go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I'm going to try and drag my half-asleep body to the refrigerator and drink a drinkable yogurt.

Didn't work last night, though. When I did go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, I was unsucessful at getting myself to the kitchen. I did, however, get something to eat as soon as I awoke. I drank a Dannon drinkable yogurt. Acid reflux as been tolerable so far today. Thank you for your keen observation and wisdom Christine.